State of alert raised at all Egyptian hotels after Hurghada attack

CAIRO: A state of alert at level “C” has been raised at all hotels across Egypt after a hotel in Red Sea resort town of Hurghada was attacked Friday night, leaving three foreign tourists injured, Youm7 reported Saturday

Areas around hotels across Egypt are being combed and tightly secured, according to anonymous security source.

In South Sinai, security sources announced heightened security measures at the entrances and the exits of the governorate in addition to deploying security patrols across the cities.

The South Sinai city of Sharm el-Sheikh has also declared high security alert in the vicinity of all tourist resort.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou reportedly headed Saturday to Hurghada to visit the injured, who had shallow wounds, according to AP quoting hospital sources.

Egypt is fighting a rising militancy targeting its tourism industry, which represents an important source of foreign currency.

Hurghada hotel attack is considered the latest in connection with the tourism sector.

On Thursday, a group of men opened fire at a security post of a hotel in Giza, leaving Arab Israeli tourists who were leaving the hotel at the time, terrified, but caused no injuries. The Islamic State (IS) group reportedly claimed their responsibility for the attack, allegedly in response to their leader’s calls to target Jews, according to Reuters.

The sector has been hit several times since a state of security turmoil in the post-January 25 Revolution, bringing down high figures of tourists turnout. Christmas reservations at different resorts have been reportedly affected.

Hurghada is considered an important Egyptian tourist destination, coming after Sharm el-Sheikh, which has seen evacuations of tourists after the October Russian plane crash that killed all 224 passengers on board.

Egyptian and foreign investigators have not yet revealed the cause of the crash, which is believed by western intelligence to be a bomb attack by IS militants in North Sinai, who had claimed their responsibility.